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Mini Cast Iron Cooking Challenge

Everyone loves cooking with cast iron out in the woods, but no one likes carrying them. I bought this mini cast iron at an antique shop on the coast a little while back because it was light weight, easy to pack, but mostly because I think its pretty darn adorable. The question remains though, can you actually use it for any real cooking in the woods?!

​The Breakfast Sandwich

So on our very first Mini Cast Iron Cooking Challenge, we are tackling the most important meal of the day with everyone's favorite morning creation, the Breakfast Sandwich! Easy to handle, goodness in every bit, and highly customizable, if you can make a breakfast sandwich you can provide for anyone in your camping cohort.

For our sandwich we went pretty standard. We decided on an Asiago Bagel for the bun. It was the right choice just because of the shape of the pan and ability to add an extra boost of flavor. For the insides we went with some delicious center cut bacon, some sharp Tillamook Cheddar, and a good old fashioned Egg.

Construction is pretty standard, but I would recommend when dealing with a bagel and eggs, maybe put some of the bacon/ham on the top and bottom against the bagel, in case you have a runny yolk, so it won't ooze out the bagel holes.

The Verdict

Bueno - The obvious upside, and most important thing, is that this sandwich was delicious! We had a nice toasted bagel bun, plenty of ham, delicious melted cheese and a fried egg. We managed to cook everything using only this pan (and a little lard) and it is super easy to carry into the woods, doesn't weigh alot and can be cleaned quite easily. So on all accounts of the mission, I would say complete success!

No Bueno - ​Guys... This took forever!! Individually toasting each bun, each one of the 4 pieces of bacon/ham at a time, then the egg, then melting the cheese at the end all in the same pan is not an efficient way to make any type of meal. The bagels and ham could have gone on a campgrill (Check out our Campfire Grills Review Here!) or straight onto the coals, and then just the egg could have been done on the pan. Some of the elements were getting cold by the time it was all put together. I also overcooked the egg just a little, I really wanted to have that runny yolk, but I guess it was much less messy this way. We remedied the cold parts by heating the entire thing by the fire at the end, but it was just added step that could have been avoided.

Final Thoughts

If you have the time and patience for a nice, easy, slow breakfast sandwich kind of morning, and don't have too many mouths to feed, I say go for it!! For this particular challenge, I see absolutely no reason to carry a large heavy cast iron pan with you, since you really only need it for the eggs. I would personally recommend using the mini cast iron in combination with one of the grills. So be smart about it, you now know you can do it all in the mini cast iron, but you really don't have to. And carrying a grill will make your life a million times easier and hardly weighs anything itself.

Now get out there, sleep outside, and in the morning whip out your mini cast iron and cook a delicious breakfast for you and your friends! Your tummy and back will thank you for not carrying extra weight when you don't need to! And if nothing else, it will just be the most adorable cooking experience you've had in the woods!